Michael Vick announced Thursday that he will not be playing Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.
Chip Kelly may have refused to rule Michael Vick out for Sunday's game against the Dallas Cowboys before Thursday's practice but Vick made sure to do so afterwards.
"I'm not playing Sunday," Vick said alongside Nick Foles as the two conducted a rare joint press conference at the Novacare Complex. "I tried to come out here and push it a little harder and run a little faster and sometimes you don't want to push it too much and let things happen naturally."
And with that declaration, Foles will make his second start of the season Sunday with first place in the NFC East on the line.
Earlier in the day Kelly flatly answered "No," when asked if he was ruling Vick out.
Vick of course has been sidelined since the second quarter of week four's win over the New York Giants at MetLife stadium when the 33-year old pulled his hamstring on a run down the sidelines.
It was a bit of a surreal scene to see the two men who battled for the starting quarterback job awkwardly answer questions about Vick's job security and the future of the position.
However, the pair remain steadfast in their friendship in spite of the ongoing competition.
"We have a great relationship both on and off the field," Foles said. "The most important thing throughout all of this is that we support each other no matter who's playing or what's going on."
Foles went out of his way to credit Vick for helping him along since his rookie year.
"I think I try to emulate his moves a little bit," the 24-year old Foles joked. "But I did have a rushing touchdown and that was because of watching him."
"What people don't know about Nick is that he's more athletic then people think," Vick said. "Don't be surprised if you see him getting rushing touchdowns or moving a little bit because that's what he can do and you'll see that as time goes on."
'As time goes on' seems to indicate that perhaps it could be later rather than sooner that Vick returns to the lineup, if at all as the starting quarterback.
The irony of this situation is that if Foles can follow his 296 yard, three passing touchdown performance with another strong effort, a case can be made that he supplant Vick permenantly as the starting quarterback. That is precisely how Vick landed the job in 2010 following Kevin Kolb's week one concussion courtesy of Clay Matthews and the Green Bay Packers.
"Questions are asked, but that's not something we can worry about," Foles explained. "I love Mike and those are the sort of things that can destroy friendships."
The long term prospects of the position are certainly still up in the air, but at least for one more week it will be Foles under center.
Matt Lombardo is the Editor-In-Chief of Eagledelphia and also an on-air personality on 97.5 FM The Fanatic in Philadelphia. Join the conversation and follow Matt on Twitter.
